And we’re doing it in style we have the largest magnitude goal differential by far of any team with 21 (Vancouver is second with 14).
A rumor of a Vanney replacement- David Wagner, former manager of Norwich City. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...tml?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
That -21 in 13 games translates to us being outscored by an average of 1.6 goals per game! So no matter how you slice it, we are having an impressive season.
I think you can give Greg Vanney credit for 2024. But I think it's also clear his time with this team has passed. Both can be true. I've consistently said I think Greg is a good coach. He's won two championships with two different MLS teams and I don't think bad coaches do that. I think he has good vision for building systems and like most American coaches is a good man manager. I think his weaknesses are adjusting and managing through adversity and unideal conditions, like today. Rebuilding year or not, we shouldn't be this terrible.
Some managers are good at dealing with mature rosters and some are good at dealing with developing ones. This season doesn't make him a bad manager but given his inability to get anything from the roster he has to go.
I think, with hindsight some of the off-season moves were bad. I think it was foolish to move Jovelic and have no back-up at all when we had another year on his contract. And then to move him to a conference rival because they offered more money. I also think keeping Fagundez over Delgado turned out to be a mistake. Delgado is a great box-to-box mid by MLS standards; he's a starter on just about any team in the league, whereas Fagundez is barely starting caliber for us as an attacking mid. It's hard to judge the newcomers because no one has been playing well, even guys we know are good (Paintsil, Pec). I'd wait to see what another coach can get out of them. I wonder where Kuntz's head is at. IMO, Vanney should not have returned from New York. I just don't see any urgency in correcting things, especially with El Trafico looming. I'm really annoyed by the way people around the team keep talking about how unlucky and how cursed the Galaxy have been, going on about the roster rules, refs, etc. We're waaaay beyond those excuses. As skydog has dutifully pointed out, even in our good years, this team has had some flaws (conceding way too many chances, conceding first way too often) we hoped would get ironed out this season, but instead we're seeing huge regression.
Steve Sampson won an MLS Cup and US Open Cup. Bad coaches with good players can absolutely win in this league. Greg’s been here five seasons. Two were bad, one was acceptable, one was incredible and then there’s 2025. As for MLS Cup, I won’t belabor the point as I’ve laid it out elsewhere, but the short version is every result went our way on the road the to final. RSL -> LAFC (away) -> Miami/Columbus (away) is a considerably more difficult path than Vancouver -> Seattle -> NYRB and home the whole way. We got outplayed and out coached for 70 minutes in the final and barring a point blank miss late in the game we’re going to extra time.
Yes, but then he's had that "luck" happen before at Toronto. I think Vanney is a good coach but his style and system lead to big swings- Toronto had one of the best seasons in league history in 2017 and then a very poor season in 2018, before another good season in 2019 (does that pattern seem a little familiar?). But when you have the worst season in league history, you gotta make a change and can't wait for the next uptick.
It's true the Galaxy got the "easy" pathway, but they also got thru the playoffs and the Cup very convincingly. The 2024 Galaxy set a record for goals scored in the playoffs. The defense, a nagging flaw of the team throughout the season, was also pretty good in the playoffs: the Galaxy never trailed throughout the entire playoffs / Cup; shut out Seattle. I also think saying NYRB outplayed us is mischaracterizing a game where we were up 2-0 in the 20th minute and went on to win 2-1 (and that's with Greg adjusting to losing Puig). So on one hand, it was the easier path, but the Galaxy also breezed thru with relative ease. Had the Galaxy lost to any of LAFC (away), Columbus or Miami (away) -- those are all good teams with good coaches; I'm not sure it would prove anything about Vanney. I think Vanney had a good season. He put together one of the best performing teams in MLS history; of the possession style teams, including Miami, the Galaxy were arguably the best. I think Vanney also adjusted well throughout the season (putting Paintsil up top when Jovelic was out) and generally motivated the players well. None of that seems to be going his way this season.
I think most coaches would have succeeded with Pec/Paintsil/Puig and Jovelic and I think that’s the criticism of Vanney, he does well when he has that kind of incredible individual talent, but struggles without it. That said, given the news of the front office renewing Vanney’s contract we’ll get to see next season. I don’t know that it will be conclusive, but I do think it will be illuminating. I’ll be rooting for him to succeed.
So now that the season is effectively over (no Dorothy, we aren’t making the playoffs) and Vanney is our manager for the foreseeable future, what should our goals be for the rest of the season? Here are mine off the top of my head: 1. Just get through the season. It’s going to be painful no matter how you slice it. Best we can hope for is to keep the games competitive as possible so the product is watchable for our fans. For example, we didn’t beat LAFC but the game was at least entertaining and something to be proud of, given our straits. 2. Develop and evaluate some players who might be able to contribute next season. I would put players like Cuevas, Parente, Sanabria, Harbor Miller, Lepley and Wynder in that group. I don’t know if Nascimento is worth developing- that would be determined by how he looks in practice. I’ve seen nothing in his few minutes on the field to suggest he is an MLS player. I think Berry is a known quantity - a practice player you pull off the shelf in emergencies. I also would love to see Aude tried as a midfielder, but I doubt that will happen. Not sure what to do with Micovic. Our keeper situation is complicated. Can he play for Ventura Co FC to get reps? 3. Improve team defensive tactics. Lol, who am I kidding! But seriously I would love to see more games where we give up less than 2 goals. 4. Improve chemistry among Pec, Ramirez, Paintsil and Reus. Reus gets it (even if his body sometimes lets him down) but the other 3 need to learn to move in a more coordinated way, knowing which runs and passes to make to support each other. Pec needs to get his head up, like Reus did for him in that fabulous cut-back set up pass last night. Paintsil needs to simplify his game. (And quit diving when touched!) 4. Win a couple games! We CAN’T be the first winless team in MLS history. That would be unbearable. We need a victory- for both the fans and the players! Anyone have any other goals for this lost season?
Especially agree with testing out the young guys. The goal now needs to be finding out who is worth keeping for 2026 when we reload and make another cup run. I also wouldn’t mind seeing more Micovic and some Marcinkowski appearances in goal so we can decide what we have for best season.
We have sooo many needs for 2026. It’s not going to be easy. At MINIMUM we need replacements for Yoshida and, I think, a new middie of Delgado quality. (Reus will be a year older and the younguns still will be sub quality I expect.) We also need a new number 9 - Ramirez needs to be a backup forward on a MLS Cup challenging team. An experienced upgrade at cb and a productive #9 will be both be very expensive. Not sure how we can clear up that kind off cap space unless we find an U22 wunderkind for either position. We also need upgrades at both outside backs. Yamane isn’t quick enough to keep up with today’s forwards in MLS. And while I really like Nelson’s defending it sure would be nice to have a left back who can contribute to the attack. And no, Aude is not that player. He is weak on D and isn’t very effective on O even when he does get forward. It’s clear that the only way the Galaxy are going to have a good D under Vanney is with individually gifted defenders like he had in Toronto (Justin Morrow, Drew Moore, Hagglund, a young Beitashour). Another preference would be for a hard nosed athletic DM. Cerillo is not that player. Sanabria is close but he has a habit of disappearing for long stretches. We also need quality depth at midfield, to relieve Reus, like Brugman provided. Maybe one of our youngsters will be able to play that role. That is a lot of expensive needs and cap compliance will be a big problem. The way we did that in 2024 was with an U22 DP starring at striker - that will be very difficult to replicate. Anyone know details on cap space opening up in 2026?
100% on your Reus observation. His soccer IQ has been in the shop window the last few games and it shows the distinction between raw physical talent and seeing the game at a level he does. I think Riqui has it to an extent, but can still get tuPaint/Pec could benefit from some mentoring - or you know coaching.
I would love to see Garcés moved to either the RB or LB position and have Miki take the other spot. May create even more of a sieve with a central pairing of Yoshida and Zanka, but season's already over. Or have both Cuevas and Garcés for the fullback positions.
So, for those wondering, according to Transfermarket, here are the players with contracts that we can end after this season (either expiring or the club controls the option year) and get them off the books. Obviously the big TAM contract that could be taken off the books is Fagundez. Then Nelson, Ramirez, McCarthy and Berry are the other veterans who could be let go and clear decent cap space as well. And then we can get back a U22 spot if we don't buy Nascimento (and we have seen nothing so far that would make us want to buy him). Then a bunch of young guys (and Zavaleta) who don't take up much cap space.
Question is how much do these guys cost against the cap? I believe that for non-DPs this is determined by their salaries and any initial signing bonuses? Do transfer fees paid count against salary cap? I think not, but am not sure.
I like Garces at right back as well. Loved how he shut down Buonga (sp?) a couple of times, something Yamane doesn’t have the quickness to do. Plus Garces speed up the field would be a valuable addition to our attack. Finally, putting him out wide will lessen the probability that his mistakes end up being pks. But if we put Garces wide we need to replace the slow Yoshida or find him another speedy partner to cover for him. Of course even at rb, when our entire team is pushed up Garces could be given the responsibility to play more centrally and serve as our “last man” to stop speedy counters.
Yes, transfer fees count against the salary cap. Per the 2025 MLS Roster rules IIRC, TAM funds were originally setup to allow a team to pay transfer fees without it fully hitting the salary cap.
I'm wishing for a good runout for the younger players, including Nascimento. As I said in the LAFC game day thread, I saw a great flick-on header from him and another good reception that showed target forward skills. If my memory is correct. With Ramirez fading, he should get a start or two in the near future. And where was Berryninho?
Transfer fees count, except when they don't. And bonuses count, except when they don't. C'mon, this is MLS. We know their salary but we never find out EXACTLY what their cap hit - that is always a secret and complex formula....
It's complex and some parts are not defined, but it isn't hidden, its published in the MLSPA CBA, Where it becomes fuzzy and unclear are items e, f and k. I can't find a definition for the loyalty bonus in the CBA (it may be there). All of the roster bonuses (which may or may not include the team performance bonuses) and that sweet what ever other costs we can get the MLSPA to agree to clause.